[Photo/bjbhxx.net.cn]

Chinese universities now offer courses in all the languages used by ASEAN countries, and more students in China and ASEAN countries are learning each other’s languages and cultures, Yuan Guiren, the Chinese minister of education, said in the opening ceremony of the eighth China-ASEAN Education Exchange Week, which was held on Sept 3.

By 2014, there were about 120,000 Chinese students in ASEAN countries, and 70,000 ASEAN students in China. Chinese universities now offer courses in all the languages used by ASEAN countries. In addition, , 30 Confucius Institutes and 30 Confucius Classrooms have opened in 10 ASEAN countries, Yu added.

He said that China and ASEAN countries are considering designating 2016 as the Education Exchange Year, through which China aims to showcase the achievements that China and ASEAN have made in educational development and exchanges.

China has made proposals for the second China-ASEAN Education Minister Roundtable Conference to exchange blueprints for education development. In addition, resources from government, universities, enterprises, research centers and think tanks will be mobilized to transform the education exchange week into a highlight of mutual cultural interaction.